I've about had it with outfires, I can't keep the boiler going for more than two days. I've cleaned, adjusted, lit, lit, and lit. This coal hates me! Too bad I've still got half a ton left. It creates more flyash than heat, and its driving me nuts!I'm really thinking about topping off the oil tank for the summer, I'm just wondering how much more money its going to cost me. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the Blashak I was burning. I'd only have outfires if it went over 90. I can't even get this stuff lit, if I didn't know better I'd swear someone stole my coal and gave me rocks!

I had a crap batch of Blaschak this year in my handfired - it burned well, but was just loaded with rocks. I had bought 14 pallets of it in '11, so I was stuck with it for 2 seasons. My father bought the rest off me, as I'm going stoker next season.

Sounds like you got a really weak batch there ... or maybe there's something else going on that's yet to be found.

I'm pretty convinced its the coal, it's been giving me fits all winter. Now that I have no heat load, I can't keep it going for more that two days. I've been trying to light it for three hours now. I get it going and it just goes out.

I just let my 110 go out a few days ago but it was going fine with no heat load for the last of it . My timer was 40 seconds on and 11 min. off for the entire season burning blaschak coal . I didn't have a very good draft in the fire box area during really warm days and would get a sulfur smell once in awhile so I let it go out for the summer . It is all cleaned up now and ready for next fall . I did have lots of fines in the box under the grate so maybe that was part of the draft issue I don't know . The draft in the stove pipe was fine even on warm days . I believe Matt runs his 110 during the summer on NG .

hcarlow wrote:I just let my 110 go out a few days ago but it was going fine with no heat load for the last of it . My timer was 40 seconds on and 11 min. off for the entire season burning blaschak coal . I didn't have a very good draft in the fire box area during really warm days and would get a sulfur smell once in awhile so I let it go out for the summer . It is all cleaned up now and ready for next fall . I did have lots of fines in the box under the grate so maybe that was part of the draft issue I don't know . The draft in the stove pipe was fine even on warm days . I believe Matt runs his 110 during the summer on NG .

I usually burn coal year round but I let my WL110 burn out last week. I have just been so busy lately but plan on firing up again tomorrow on coal. And actually Matt ran his all winter on NG. So give him a hard time about it next time you speak to him.

plumber wrote:I can't wait until this coal is gone!!! I can't keep it lit. Outfires every day! Besides the pain it is to light it, I'm wasting a lot of coal. At this point I think oil would be cheaper.

Give us a call. Maybe there is something you are missing or overlooking.

Thanks Dave, I will. I am convinced its the coal. I got 300 lbs of bagged Reading and the problems went away. The biggest issue with my coal is its inconsistency. No two shovels burn the same, so I can't get it set. Had issues all winter, and now that theirs no load, I'm either outfiring or constantly hitting the dump zone causing outfires.

plumber wrote:Thanks Dave, I will. I am convinced its the coal. I got 300 lbs of bagged Reading and the problems went away. The biggest issue with my coal is its inconsistency. No two shovels burn the same, so I can't get it set. Had issues all winter, and now that there is no load, I'm either outfiring or constantly hitting the dump zone causing outfires.

Sounds like you confirmed that the coal was not a good match for your equipment/load. If Reading works well for you, maybe you can slowly mix in the other coal and get through it.

Can you get Kimmel's rice locally? Their coal tends to have a little higher volatile content, and it holds a fire really well in the summer.

A couple of years ago I got a REALLY bad truck load of pea coal for a really cheap price. It would not stay lit for anything. I decided to get a truck load of "good" coal at normaly price and mix the bad coal in with it on a 75% good, 25% bad ratio. It worked and I got the trash coal burned up and gone. At least I got what I paid for...

I was reluctant to post the source for the coal as I really didn't want to bash. However with the 6 tons of issues I've had, I'm guessing that Jeddo coal is just a bad combo for me. Rob, thanks ill have to see about Kimmells. Not sure though, I only know where to get Reading and Blashak.

I am burning oil at the moment after my last of the coal ran out (april). I am burning about 1 gal/ day for domestic. It is a little more costly ($3.55/gal oil/day = $106/ month) vs coal ( 20 lbs/day @ $.135/ lb = $81/ month) but it allows me to go away on weekends with no fears of outfires etc. Great option for this boiler. I do have the 5 gpm coil and need to run the boiler about 185deg to allow endless showers for the wife. Any less and you start running out after about 30 minutes of shower time. Keep in mind these comparisons are for a young family of 5. When the boiler is at 185 we can shower forever and run the washing machine. I think the coil just needs that extra temp to overcome the cold water coning in..

Ironically I played around with dropping the boiler temp to 165 as well as 145 and the daily usage was nearly identical, suffice to say that the boiler is insulated fairly well...

When burning coal the majority of the heat generated was just waisted to keep the fire lit.. not a big deal but for me in the summer I will choose the oil and coal n the heating season.